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Oil Edges up ahead of ECB Meeting

iconSep 6, 2012 08:45
Source:SMM
U.S. crude prices edged up on Wednesday after choppy trading as investors were awaiting the European Central Bank's highly-anticipated meeting due Thursday.

NEW YORK, Sept. 6 -- U.S. crude prices edged up on Wednesday after choppy trading as investors were awaiting the European Central Bank's highly-anticipated meeting due Thursday, hoping for details of a plan to tackle the bloc's debt crisis.

Investors were expecting that ECB President Mario Draghi would unveil a detailed plan at Thursday's meeting after he said in July that the ECB would do "whatever it takes" to protect the common currency.

There were reports saying that the ECB would launch a bond- buying plan without setting any cap. The unlimited bond purchase of debt-burdened countries could boost oil prices.

However, worries that the ECB might not be able to solve the debt crisis still lingered and limited oil's gains.

On the economic front, revised data showed U.S. second-quarter productivity rose 2.2 percent from the previous quarter, better than earlier indications and also beating economists' forecasts.

The markets were also waiting for a crucial data of August's nonfarm employment situation due Friday. Analysts pointed out if the data came in weak, it could trigger the Federal Reserve's another round of quantitative easing.

In the Gulf of Mexico, offshore oil production started to resume in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac, as power was restored, floodwaters were cleared out and worker were returning.

The Energy Information Administration's weekly inventories report will be released on Thursday, which was expected to post a moderate rise.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery added 6 cents to settle at 95.36 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

But in London, Brent crude for October delivery declined 1.09 dollars, or 0.95 percent, to close at 113.09 dollars a barrel as investors remained cautious.

 

crude oil price

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